Pressure fluid follow-up servomotor



July 13,1948.

Filed April '16, 1945 W. F. TRIPLETT PRESSURE FLUID, FOLLOW -UP SERVOHOTOR 4 Sheets-Shed 1 Arrokzvzr.

y 4 W,F..TR|PLETT 23450 PRESSURE FLUID, FOLLOW-UP SERVOMOTOR Filed April 16, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. WILL/14M f Z WPL 77.

Y' 1948. w. F. TRIPLETT PRESSURE FLUID, FqLLdw-ur sERvo'moToR 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed April is, 1945 INVENTOR. W/LL/AM f 7k/PL5T77 lllll l l ll lll I l'l w. F. TRIPLETT 2,445,091

msm mum, FoLLow-ur SERVONOTOR 4 Shets-Sheat 4 Filed April 16, 1945 a F mar v/Am:

mmvron' Wag/w f." ZIP/PAUL Patented July l3, 1948 oFFicE rnassvna FLUID FoLLow-Ur snavonro'roa William F. Triplctt. Grand Junction, Colo. Application April 16,1945, Serial No. 588,661

- 12 Claims. 1

' This invention relates to a power-operated reversing device for locomotives, and has for its principal object'the provision of a safe, easily operated and positive mechanism for replacing I the usual hand-operated reverse lever,

Another object of the invention is to construct the .device sothat it can be operated by either air or steam pressure at the will Of the engineer, and to provide means which will automatically coni nect the reversing mechanism with a manual mechanism should both the steam and air presv sure fall so that operation thereof will be under the control of the engineer at all times and under all conditions.

:Still another object-is to provide a power-operated mechanism which will not creep," and which will accurately maintain its setting'until a change is desired. v

a further object is to provide a device of this. character which can beconnected with any of thestandard valve motion at present used upon locomotives without change therein and with a minimum of installation expense A stillfurther object is to provide an easily operated manual adjustment which may be used in the locomotive shop for accurately pre-setting the valves.

. A still further object is to provide automatic means for completely disengaging the power mechanism when the hand mechanism is in use. and for locking the air supply valve during manual operation so that air or steam pressure cannot he accidentally turned on when the hand mechanism is in use; and to so construct the hand mechanism thatit may be completely disconnected and turned out of the way of the engineer during power operation of the devices.

2 7 Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary side view,

, partially in section, illustrating a rack and pin- 'ion employed in the device;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section, taken on the line H, Figs. 3,4and8;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section. taken on the line 8-6, Figs. 3 and 5. 4

Fig. 7 is a detail side view of the control-mechanism for the improved reversing gear in the power operating position as it would appear from e the inside of the locomotive cab;

Fig. 8 is a detail section through the control mechanism, taken on the line 8-4, Fig. 9;

Fig.- 9 is a vertical section, taken on the line 9-9, Fig. 8. as it would appear with the controls in the manual operating position;

Fig. l0 is a detail section, taken on the line Other object-sand advantages reside in the detail'con struction of the invention, which is de-' signed for simplicity, economy, and efllciency.

' typical locomotive;

Fig. 2 is aside view of the power mechanism 'zof'this device;

l ig.3isaplanviewthereof;

ii-i I, Fig. 9, illustrating in solid line the manual position of the elements and in broken line the power" position thereof.

In Fig. l, typical parts of a locomotive are indicated diagrammaticall and designated by nu meral as follows: driving wheels i2, cab i3, boiler ll. steam dome l5, air receiver l6, reversing gear fork shaft l'l, linkage-supporting lever l8, and reversing fork lever IS.

The improved power reversing mechanism is operated from a pressure motor 20, preferably, but notnecessarily of the reciprocating type, to which steam may be conducted from thesteam dome II through a steam supply pipe 2|, controlled by a steam valve 221and a non-return check valve 23, or air may be conducted from the air receiver Ii by means of an air supply pipe 24. z controlled by a second non-retum check valve 25. The supply of fluid, either steam or air, is controlled by a valve in the cab H, which will be later described,- and flows from the latter valve to the motor 20 through a motor supply pipe 26. V

The motor 20 may be of any desired type. As illustrated, it is a V-type motor' having a builtin reversing shaft 21 connected to a conventional item shaft 8|, can be shifted into mesh with the motor gear 2|. The worm shaft 3i rotates a worm 32. which in turn rotates a worm gear 33. The worm gear I! is mounted on a pinion shaft 84 carrying a suitable pinion II. The pinion 35 meshes with the teeth of a toothed rack bar It to reciprocate the latter forwardly and rearwardly.

The forward extremity of the rack bar terminates in a crosshead rod II. which in turn terminates in a crosshead I'l slidably mounted in a crosshead guide 38. The crosshead guide it is bolted to the forward extremity of a rack housing 4. which is mountedona gear case ll in which the worm l2 and the worm gear 33 are contained. The gear case ll provides a mounting base for the motor 26. The entire structure is supported at the side of. the locomotive on suitable brackets ll. 1

A connecting link 39 connects the crosshead 31 to the reversing fork lever ii. Thus, it can be readily seen that, when the motor 20 is operated forwardly, it will swing the fork lever is forwardly, and whenoperated rearwardly, it will similarly swing the fork lever i I rearwardly. The latter lever, of course, operates as usual to ad- Just the reversing linkage of the locomotive.

The reversing lever 28 is controlled from a control lever 42 at the engineer's position. The lever 42 is pivoted on a lever shaft 43 intermediate its extremities and a reach rod 44 extends from the lower extremity of the control lever forwardly to a floating lever ll. -The upper ex tremity of the floating lever 45 is suspended from the lower extremity of the reversing lever 28, the reach rod It being connected below the point of suspension. A return rod ll extends from the lower extremity of the floating lever 45 to a bracket plate 41 secured to the crosshead 31.

The operation of the linkage and levers is as follows: Let us assume that the engineer' con trol lever 42 is pulledrearwardly. This will push the reach rod forwardly so as to swing the upper extremity of the floating lever 45 forwardly, the lower extremity thereof acting as a fulcrum. This swings the reversing lever forwardly and causes the motor 20 to operate in a reverse direction; so as to rotate the pinion l! to actuate the rack bar 80 rearwardly and move the fork lever II to a "reverse" position. As the crosshead 31 moves rearwardly, it in turn pushes the lower extremity of the floating lever 45 rearwardly to cause it to pry against-the reach rod 44 as a fulcrum so that the upper extremity of the lever 4! will return the reversing lever 28 to the closed position, thus stopping the motor a. The

' point of stoppage depends upon the amount of the original movement of the engineer's control lever l2.

Forward movement of the control lever 42 causes an opposite operation to take place; that is, it first swings the reversing lever II rearwardiy. This causes the motor to operate forwardly to push the crosshead 11 forwardly. and the latter in turn acts back through the return rod 48 and the floating lever ll to return the reversing lever 2! to its closed or neutral position when the crosshead has moved the pre-set distance. Thus, the engineer can set the crosshead 31 at any desired point, depending upon the pre-setting of the control lever 42. The setting of the latter is maintained by means of a toothed locking segment ll into which a toothed latch 40 engages when a hand Krill II on the lever 42 is released. The grip II is connected with the latch ll through the medium of a grip link II.

The supply of fluid under pressure to the motor suppl pipe :28 is controlled by the hand grip II. A push rod 12 extends from a lever arm II on the grip 8. into a receiving socket 14 on a cam cap II. The cam cap rides in a cam groove II in a cylindrical cam member ll mounted on the lever shaft 43. Thus, when the 'cam cap II is rotated in one direction, it will move inwardly on the cam member H, and when rotated in the other direction, it will move outwardly thereon. A compression spring I. constantly urges the cam outwardly.

A plunger It extends from the cap 15 through the lever shaft 43 in alignment wtih'a valve stem 80 on the valve 8!. Thus, when the hand grip I0 is compressed, it causes the push rod 12 to retate the cap ll, causing the latter to actuate the valve stem III to open the valve 05. A valve pipe '88 connects the valve ll with the stem and air lines It and 24. The motor supply pipe 28 is also connected into the valve ll. so that when-- ever the hand grip it is compressed, fluid under a pressure will be admitted to the motor II.

In order that a power-operated reverse gear be practical, it is necessary that means -be provided for operating the device should the air pressure fall. In the present device, should the air in the air receiver it have insumcient pressure to operate the motor ill, the engineer can 1 turn on the steam valve 22. The steam will force the check valve 25 closed to prevent steam from entering the receiver I, and the device can then be operated on steam pressure. However, at times it is necessary, more particularly when the engine is in the shop, to operate the reverse gear for setting the valves, etc., when there is neither air nor steam pressure. This condition is accommodated in the present invention by providing a manual operating mechanism.

Since it would be practically impossible to operate a manual mechanism with-the motor 2| connected to the device, means are provided for disconnecting the motor when manual operation is desired." This is accomplished by placing a pressure cylinder 52 in alignment with the worm shaft ii and placing a piston II on the shaft Ii within the cylinder l2. The piston I is rotatably mounted on one extremity of a spool N, the other extremity of which carries the shifting gear II. The spool is splined on the worm shaft 3| so that it may move longitudinally thereof .but cannot rotate thereon. The spool ll, how

ever, can rotate in the piston II.

A compression spring I! constantly urges the spool 54 toward the cylinder I! so as to move the shifting gear It out of mesh with the motor gear 2.. The spool It is moved in the other direction, so as to engage the" gears 28 and 3|, by-

fluid pressure in the cylinder II. Hie fluid flows through a cylinder pipe II from the motor supply pipe Thus, whenever pressure is supplied to the motor 20, this pressure will be simultaneously supplied to the cylinder I! to force the shifting gear Ill into mesh with the motor gear II and, whenever there is no pressure on the motor, these Manual rotation is accomplished through the A 6 medium of a hand crank II at the engineer's position. The hand crank II is mounted on a crank shaft which is Journalled in a rotatable beareither direction will move said rack in either diing member ll mounted on a cam shaft 8| sup- I ported from the locking segment ll. When not in use,' the crank I1 is swung forwardly to the solid line position of Fig. and when desired for useis pulled rearwardly to the horizontal broken line position in this figure. This forward and rearward swinging movement of the crank rotates the cam shaft ll.

The shaft of the crank i1 is connected through a universal joint II from which a splined or square stubshaft ll extends. The stub shaft II is slidable within a socket sleeve II which is sufflciently long. The sleeve ll is mounted on the extremity of a universal shaft I i. which connects through a universal Joint ii with a clutching member 08 iournalled in alignment with the extremity of the worm shaft II. The clutchin member 62 erminates in a clutch head OI which can be moved into engagement with clutch dogs 84 on the extremity of the worm shaft 3i.

Thus, as the crank I1 is swung from its inoperative. (solid line) to its operative (broken line) position, the stub shaft it will slide forwardly into the socket sleeve ll until the universal Joint I contacts the end of the sleeve II. as shown in broken line in Fig. 7. It will then act to push the universal shaft forwardly to cause the clutch head it to engage the dogs It, thus connectin the crank II to the worm shaft II so that the latter may be rotated manually by means of the crank 51 to operate the fork lever ll.

Means are provided to prevent pressure from reaching the motor il when the crank 51 is in the manual operating position. This is accomplished by placing a cam I on the cam shaft II so as to be rotated by rotation ofthe bearing member 68. The cam ii is positioned below an arcuate lifting member I! which is mounted for vertical movement in the locking segment 4''. The lifting member '2 is positioned below a contact roller '3 mounted on the lower extremity of a fulcrum rod ll extending upwardly along the control lever 42 and terminating against a spring '5 therein.

- The lever arm 13 of the hand grip II is pivoted at It on the fulcrum rod II. The purpose of the fulcrum rod is to make it impossible for the valve I to be opened when the manual control is in operation. for when the crank "is swung to the operative position, the cam II will lift the lifting member If. This in turn will contact the roller It and lift the fulcrum rod It. This raises the latch 40 out of the teeth of the segment II and also raises the push rod 12 in its socket ll so that operation of the hand grip can no longer cause the push rod to operate the cam cap ll. Thus, during manual operation the lever 42 is free to move with the movements of the crosshead, and all pressure is shut off from the motor I. and the cylinder 2.

While a specific form ofthe improvement has been described and illustrated herein. it is desired tobeunderstoodthatthesamemaybevaried,

within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention. whatis claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

rection; a reversing valve controlling the directlon of operation of said motor; a reversing lever operating said valve; a control lever; means connecting said control lever with said reversing lever for swinging the-latter to an open position: means operable from said rack for returning said reversing lever to the closed position after the rack has moved a predetermined distance; a fluid conduit for supplyin fluid under pressure to said motor; a-feed valve controlling said conduit; a hand grip on said control lever; and means connesting said hand grip to said feed valve so that operation of said grip will open said feed valve.

2. A power-operated reversing device comprising: a toothed rack; a pinion in mesh with said rack; a pinion shaft carryi said pinion; a worm wheel on said pinion shaft: a worm in'mesh with said wheel for rotating the latter; a worm shaft carrying said worm; a pressure-operated motor; a drive gear operable from said motor; a shifting gear slidably splined on said worm shaft: a spool member extending along said worm shaft from a connection with said shifting gear; a piston carried by said spool; a pressure cylinder around said piston;means for admitting fluid under pressure to said pressure cylinder from the motor supply to cause the piston to force the shifting gear into mesh with the motor-operated gear when fluid is turned to said motor. one extremity of said pinion shaft extending entirely through said spool; clutching means engaging said latter extremity; and manual means for engaging and rotating said clutching means when desired.

3. A power-operated reversing device compris ing: a toothed rack; a pinion in mesh with said rack: a pinion shaft carrying said pinion; a worm wheel on said pinion shaft; a worm in mesh with said wheel for rotating the latter; a worm shaft carrying said worm; pressure-operated motor; a drive gear operable from said motor; a shifting gear slidably splined on said worm shaft; a spool member extending along said worm shaft from a connection with said shifting gear; a piston carried by said spool; a pressure cylinder around said piston; a feed valve for admitting fluid under pressure to said pressure cylinder from the motor supply to. cause the piston to force the shifting gear into mesh with the motor-operated gear when pressure is turned to said motor; spring means for urging said shifting gear out of mesh with said motor gear when the fluid is shut ofl' vfrom said motor; and manual means for rotating in a plane parallel to the axis of said crank; and

means for automatically connecting said crank to said reversing device when said bearing memher is rotated to a predetermined position.

5. A combined manual and power-operated re- I versing gear for locomotives comprising: a reversing device; a pressure motor; pressure-operated means .for connecting said pressure motor to said reversing device; a control lever; a reversing valve controlling said motor; means connecting said control lever with said valve to control the direction 01' operation of said motor; a feed valve controlling the fluid pressure to said motor; a hand grip on said control lever; and means for operating said teed valve from said hand grip.

8. A combined manual and power-operated reversing gear !or locomotives comprising; a reversing device; a pressure motor; pressure-operated means for connecting said pressure motor to said reversing device; a manual crank; a bearing member for said crank arranged to be rotated in a plane parallel to the axis or said crank; means for automatically connecting said crank to said reversing device when said bearing member is rotated to a predetermined position; a control lever; means connecting said control lever with said pressure motor to control the direction of the latter; a valve controlling the fluid pressure to .said motor; a hand grip on said control lever; means for operating said valve from said hand grip; and means operable by the rotation of said bearing member for disconnecting said hand grip from said valve when said bearing member has been rotated to said position.

'7. A control lever for a combined power and manually-operated reversing gear comprising: a

pressure-operated motor operatively connected to said gear; a reversing valve controlling the operation 01 said motor; a lever; a connecting mem-- ber between said lever and said reversing valve for controlling the latter; a hand grip on said lever; and a feed valve operable from said hand grip for controlling the fluid pressure to said reversing valve.

8. A control lever for a combined power and manually-operated reversing gear comprising: a

lever; a connecting member between said lever and said gear for controlling the latter: a hand grip on said lever; a valve operable from said hand gripfor controlling the fluid pressure to said gear; a locking segment; a latch member I operable from said hand grip for locking said lever in said locking segment; a hand crank; means connecting the hand crank with said reversing mechanism, to operate the latter manually; a rotatable bearing for said hand crank so that the latter may be swung out of the operative position; and means operable from the rotation of said bearing for rendering said hand grip in- .operative with reference to said valve and said locking segment.

9. Means for operating a reversing device, either manually or by means of a fluid motor, as desired, comprising: a reversing .valve on said motor; a control lever operatively connected to said reversing valve; a hand grip on said control lever: a feed valve for said motor: means connecting the hand grip and feed valve to open said teed valve upon movement of said hand grip; clutching means between said motor and said reversing device; and means to operate said clutching means responsive to pressure fluid controlled by the opening of said feed valve.

10. Means for operating a reversing device, either manually or by means of a fluid motor, as desired, comprising: a reversing valve on said motor; a control lever operatively connected to said reversing valve; a hand grip on said control lever; afeed valve for said motor; means connecting the hand grip and feed valve to open said feed valve upon movement of said hand grip;

by the opening of said teed valve: a swingingly mounted manual crank; a second clutching means; and means operable from. the swinging movement or said crank for engaging said second clutching means so that said device can be onerated manually from said crank.

11. Means for operatinga reversing device,

either manually or by means of a fluid motor,-

as desired, comprising: a reversing valve on said motor; a control lever operatively connected to said reversing valve; a hand gripon said control lever; a feed valve for said motor; means'connecting the hand grip and feed valve to open said feed valve upon movement of said hand grip; clutching means between said motor and said reversing device; means to operate said clutching means responsive to pressure fluid controlled by the opening of said teed valve; a swingingly mounted manual crank; a second clutching means; means operable from the swinging movement of said crank for engaging said second clutching means so that said device ,can be operated manually from said crank; locking means for locking said controllever at any desired point;

and means operable from the swinging movement of said crank for unlocking said locking means so that said control lever will be free during manual operation. v

12. Means for operating a reversing device, either manually or by means of-a fluid motor, as desired, comprising: a reversing valve on said motor; a control lever operatively connected to said reversing valve; a hand grip on said control lever; a feed valve for said motor; means connecting the hand grip and feed valve to open said feed valve upon movement of said hand grip; clutching means between said motor and said reversing device; means to operate said clutching means responsive to pressure fluid controlled by the opening of said feed valve; a swingingly mounted manual crank; a second clutching means; means operable from the swinging movement of said crank for engaging said second clutching means so that said device can be operated manually from said crank; and means for automatically disconnecting said hand grip from operative connection with said feed valve when said crank is swung to the manual operating po'- sition.

WILLIAM F. TRIPLE'I'I.

I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

